all night, sitting at the entrance of the cave with my face to the cast, resigning myself to the secret influences of the Prophet.

"One morning after my nocturnal vigil, just as I perceived the horizon glow at the approach of the sun, the power of sleep became irresistible, and I sunk under it. I imagined myself still sitting at the entrance of my cell; that the dawn increased; and that as I looked earnestly for the first beam of day, a dark spot appeared to intercept it. I perceived that it was in motion; it increased in size as it drew near, and at length I discovered it to be an eagle. I still kept my eye fixed steadfastly upon it, and saw it alight at a small distance, where I now descried a fox whose two fore-legs appeared to be broken. Before this fox the eagle laid part of a kid, which she had brought in her talons, and then disappeared.

"When I awaked, I laid my forehead upon the ground, and blessed the Prophet for the instruction of the morning. I reviewed my dream, and said thus to myself, Cosrou, thou hast done well to renounce the tumult, the business, and vanities of life: but thou hast as yet only done it in part; thou art still every day busied in the search of food; thy mind is not wholly at rest; neither is thy trust in Providence complete. What art thou taught by this vision? If thou hast seen an eagle commissioned by Heaven to feed a fox that is lame, shall not the hand of Heaven also supply thee with food, when that which prevents thee from procuring it for thyself, is not necessity, but devotion?

"I was now so confident of a miraculous supply, that I neglected to walk out for my repast, which, after the first day, I expected with an impatience that left me little power of attending to any other object. This impatience, however, I labored to suppress, and persisted in my resolution: but my eyes at length began to fail me, and my knees smote each other; I threw myself backward, and hoped my weakness would soon increase to insensibility. But I was suddenly roused by the voice of an invisible being, who pronounced these words: Cosrou, I am the angel, who, by the command of the Almighty, have registered the thoughts of thy heart, which I am now commissioned to reprove. While thou wast attempting to become wise above that which is revealed, thy folly has perverted the instruction which was vouchsafed thee. Art thou disabled like the fox? hast thou not rather the powers of the eagle? Arise, let the eagle be

the object of thy emulation. To pain and sickness, be thou again the messenger of ease and health. Virtue is not rest, but action. If thou doest good to man as an evidence of thy Love to God, thy virtue will be exalted from mortal to divine; and that happiness which is the pledge of paradise, will be thy reward upon earth.'

"At these words, I was not less astonished than if a mountain had been overturned at my feet. I humbled myself in the dust; I returned to the city; I dug up my treasure; I was liberal, yet I became rich. My skill in restoring health to the body, gave me frequent opportunities of curing the diseases of the soul. I grew eminent beyond my merit; and it was the pleasure of the king that I should stand before him. Now, therefore, be not offended; 1 boast of no knowledge that I have not received. As the sands of the desert drink up the drops of rain, or the dew of the morning, so do I also, who am but dust, imbibe the instructions of the Prophet.

Believe, then, that it is he who tells thee, all knowledge is profane, which terminates in thyself; and by a life wasted in speculation, little even of this can be gained. When the gates of paradise are thrown open before thee, thy mind shall be irradiated in a moment. Here, thou canst do little more than pile error upon error: there, thou shalt build truth upon truth. Wait, therefore, for the glorious vision; and in the mean-time emulate the eagle. Much is in thy power; and, therefore, much is expected of thee. Though the Almighty only can give virtue, yet, as a prince, thou mayest stimulate those to beneficence, who act from no higher motive than immediate interest thou canst not produce the principle, but mayest enforce the practice. Let thy virtue be thus diffused; and if thou believest with reverence, thou shalt be accepted above. Farewell! May the smile of Him who resides in the heaven of heavens be upon thee; and against thy name, in the volume of His will, may happiness be written !"

The king, whose doubts, like those of Mirza, were now removed, looked up with a smile that communicated the joy of his mind. He dismissed the prince to his government; and commanded these events to be recorded, to the end that posterity may know, "that no life is pleasing to God, but that which is useful to mankind."

LESSON XXIX.

The Planetary System.-MANGNALL. FAIR star of Eve, thy lucid ray

Directs my thoughts to realms on high;
Great is the theme, though weak the lay,
For my heart whispers God is nigh.

The Sun, vicegerent of his power,
Shall rend the veil of parting night,
Salute the spheres, at early hour,
And pour a flood of life and light.
Seven circling planets I behold,
Their different orbits all describe;
Copernicus these wonders told,
And bade the laws of truth revive.

Mercury and Venus first appear,
Nearest the dazzling source of day;
Three months compose his hasty year
In seven she treads the heav'nly way.

Next, Earth completes her yearly course;
The Moon as satellite attends;
Attraction is the hidden force,
On which creation's law depends.

Then Mars is seen of fiery hue;
Jupiter's orb we next descry;
His atmospheric belts we view,
And four bright moons attract the eye.

Mars, soon his revolution makes,

In twice twelve months the sun surrounds, Jupiter, greater limit takes,

And twelve long years declare his bounds.

With ring of light, see Saturn slow,
Pursue his path in endless space;
By seven pale moons his course we know,
And thirty years that round shall trace.

The Georgium Sidus next appears,
By his amazing distance known;
The lapse of more than eighty years,
In his account makes one alone.

Six moons are his, by Herschel shown,
Herschel, of modern times the boast;
Discovery here is all his own,
Another planetary host!

And lo! by astronomic scan,

Three stranger planets track the skies,
Part of that high majestic plan,
Whence those successive worlds arise.

Next Mars, Piazzi's orb is seen,

Four years six months, complete his round;
Science shall renovated beam,

And gild Palermo's favored ground.

Daughters of telescopic ray,

Pallas and Juno, smaller spheres,
Are seen near Jove's imperial way,
Tracing the heavens in destined years.

Comets and fixed stars I see,

With native lustre ever shine;

How great! how good! how dreadful! He
In whom life, light, and truth combine.

Oh! may I better know his will,
And more implicitly obey;
Be God my friend, my father still,
From finite, to eternal day.

LESSON XXX.

Incentives to devotion.-H. K. WHITE.

Lo! the unlettered hind, who never knew To raise his mind excursive, to the heights Of abstract contemplation, as he sits On the green hillock by the hedge-row side, What time the insect swarms are murmuring, And marks, in silent thought, the broken clouds, That fringe, with loveliest hue, the evening sky, Feels in his soul the hand of nature rouse The thrill of gratitude, to him who formed The goodly prospect; he beholds the God Thron'd in the west; and his reposing ear

Hears sounds angelic in the fitful breeze

That floats through neighboring copse or fairy brake, Or lingers, playful, on the haunted stream.

Go with the cotter to his winter fire,

When o'er the moors the loud blast whistles shrill,
And the hoarse ban-dog bays the icy moon;
Mark with what awe he lists the wild uproar,
Silent, and big with thought; and hear him bless
The God that rides on the tempestuous cloud,
For his snug hearth, and all his little joys.
Hear him compare his happier lot, with his
Who bends his way across the wintery wolds,
A poor night-traveller, while the dismal snow
Beats in his face, and dubious of his paths,
He stops, and thinks, in every lengthening blast,
He hears some village mastiff's distant howl,
And sees far streaming, some lone cottage light;
Then undeceived, upturns his streaming eyes,
And clasps his shivering hands, or overpowered,
Sinks on the frozen ground, weighed down with sleep,
From which the hapless wretch shall never wake.
Thus the poor rustic warms his heart with praise
And glowing gratitude: he turns to bless
With honest warmth, his Maker and his God.
And shall it e'er be said, that a poor hind,
Nursed in the lap of ignorance, and bred
In want and labor, glows with noble zeal
To laud his Maker's attributes, while he
Whom starry science in her cradle rocked,
And Castaly enchastened with its dews,
Closes his eye upon the holy word;
And, blind to all but arrogance and pride,
Dares to declare his infidelity,
And openly contemn the Lord of Hosts?
Oh! I would walk

A weary journey to the furthest verge
Of the big world, to kiss that good man's hand,
Who, in the blaze of wisdom and of art,
Preserves a lowly mind; and to his God,
Feeling the sense of his own littleness,
Is as a child in meek simplicity!
What is the pomp of learning? the parade
Of letters and of tongues? Even as the mists,
Or the gray morn before the rising sun,